The Bulletin - USF COPH Alumni Magazine

the bulletinUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH ALUMNI NEWS

inside:

The College of Public Health’s new bachelor’s degree p3

Alumni Profile: Kansas Sparks, International Malaria Research p4

USF hosts 20th annual social marketing conference p6

Beverly Sanchez Retires p7

Save the Date p12

WINTER 2011

2 USF COPH alumni news

The College of Public Health recently completed its self-study, required for re-accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health. We were last accredited, for the full seven years allowable, in 2004. We will be site-visited by CEPH in May of 2011 and are anticipating a success-ful review. The self-study is available on our web-site http://health.usf.edu/publi-chealth/ and we are always interested in your comments. In addition, the Council on Education for Public Health will accept written comments up to the time of the site visit on May 16, 2011. Please write to them directly at: CEPH 800 Eye Street, Suite 202 Washington, D.C. 2001-3710. Thank you!

college of public health seeks reaccreditation

from the deanYet another year has begun, and I am proud to announce that there continue to be positive changes taking place within the USF College of Public Health, many of which we have featured for you in this issue of The Bulletin.

Perhaps the most significant and noteworthy of these changes is our new Bachelor’s Degree Program. As of this past fall 2010, the college is offering a degree in Public Health to undergraduates, the first accredited program of its kind to be offered in Florida. Within the new BS program, undergraduate students will be encouraged to participate in public health research ranging from laboratory studies to participatory community-based research with a focus on the culturally competent aspects of healthy community development.

Change defines our way of life at USF Health and the College of Public Health and we are extremely proud of this new opportunity for undergraduates!

Sometimes change involves taking something old and making it new. This year will be the 24th year that we present the Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health Award for outstanding career accomplishments and leadership that contribute signifi-cantly to the field. We are expanding the scale of the award ceremony and reception, inviting the larger public health community to celebrate with us, our alumni and friends. We sincerely hope that you will be able to join us for this exciting event on April 6, 2011!

We look forward to the many accomplishments in 2011 that will be made both col-lectively as a college and individually by our alumni, students, and faculty. We have so much to be proud of. If you are not yet a member of our alumni society, I encourage you to visit publichealth.usfhealthalumni.net and join today to be a part of the change that is the USF College of Public Health.

Donna J. Petersen, ScD, MHS

Senior Associate Vice President, USF Health

Dean, USF College of Public Health

winter 2011 3

“The Bachelor of Science degree program provides the student-centered courses required for entry-level public health jobs found in government agencies, health corpo-rations, community non-profit organizations and health care facilities,” said Kay Perrin, PhD, MPH, RN, associate professor and director of Academic and Student Affairs for USF’s COPH. “USF is home to Florida’s first and longest-standing public health college so it is very exciting that USF has the first bachelor’s degree in public health in Florida housed in an accredited public health college,” Dr. Perrin said. “One of the main reasons we started this program is to serve Florida by filling the critical need for health care agencies seeking entry-level personnel in public health settings,” Dr. Per-rin said. “In fact, The Chronicle of Higher Education noted in their Sept. 4, 2009, issue that public health is considered to be one of the ‘five college majors on the rise’ with a list that includes service science, health infor-matics, computational science, sustainability and public health.”

More than 2,600 students were accepted in the charter class this past fall and the program received approval from the Board of Trustees Oct. 7, Dr. Perrin said. The BS in Public Health is a generalist degree with

no concentrations, tracks or specializations, but students can have a double major or an accelerated degree across disciplines (such as a bachelor’s degree in geography and a master’s degree in environmental and oc-cupational health). With the new BS program, undergraduate students will be encouraged to seek op-portunities to participate in public health research ranging from laboratory studies to participatory community-based research with a focus on the culturally competent aspects of healthy community development including the social, economic, educational components.

“This research provides entry-level student employment opportunities on a variety of specific public health projects while learning basic research skills including data collection, data entry and technical report writing,” Dr. Perrin said. “Under faculty leadership, students are mentored to achieve personal goals whether they choose em-ployment after their bachelor’s degree or admission into a graduate or professional program.”

Established in July 1984 with an initial enrollment of 100 students, USF College

of Public Health is fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and has graduated more than 2,000 students with master’s and doctoral degrees.

Current enrollment includes nearly 600 master’s and doctoral full- and part-time students. Constructed in 1991, the College building houses an auditorium, classrooms, a distance education studio, computer class-rooms, and 17 laboratories. More than 91 faculty members provide education, research and service impacting local, state, national and global public health.

COPH launches undergraduate public health degree program

In fall 2010, the USF College of Public Health (COPH) began offering a degree in public health to undergraduates, the first of its kind to be offered in Florida by an accredited college of public health.

For more information about the

undergraduate program now

offered at the USF College of

Public Health, please contact

Cherie Dilley:

[email protected] or

(813) 974-9135.


Kansas Sparks graduated this past summer with a dual degree in Epidemiology and Global Health Practice from the USF Col-lege of Public Health. While finishing up her degree at USF, Kansas was able to gain valuable international field experiences in global health practice by traveling to Thai-land to do international malaria research.

As a student at the College of Public Health, Kansas began working for Dr. Dennis Kyle in his malaria research lab. Because of Dr. Kyle’s many connections to colleagues and friends researching in international settings, Kansas received an opportunity to travel to Thailand to conduct research with the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU). Her first trip to work with SMRU was in May of 2010 to fulfill her international field work requirement. After her graduation in the summer, Kansas was able to return for a second trip to Thailand to continue research with SMRU from October through Decem-ber of 2010.

Shoklo Malaria Research Unit, located in Mae Sot, Thailand, is a collaboration between the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University in Bangkok, and the University of Oxford, UK. Their main focus is to seek to reduce the impact of

alumni profile: kansas sparks

international malaria research in thailand

My experiences in Thailand have taught me that the fundamentals of public health are simple yet execution can be challenging. I now have a greater appreciation for this and the importance of public health research.

~Kansas Sparks

Above: Kansas Sparks worked for Dr. Dennis Kyle in his malaria research lab. Below: Sparks contin-ued her research in Thailand with the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit.

sparks continued on p10…

winter 2011 5

I have spent the last five years of my life volunteering and studying abroad, while pursu-ing dual master’s degrees in public health and anthropol-ogy at the University of South Florida. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, I realized how health interacts with all aspects of life. Because of my education and scholarship support, my life has been in-vigorated and I have discov-ered my life purpose.

The impoverished lifestyle and lack of health care avail-able to the villagers of Ghana simultaneously engaged and inspired me, underscoring that a truly happy life is not possible without good health. My education at USF has proven invaluable. Before graduation, I was able to travel to Cambodia where I worked with a NGO in a

rural village as a health adviser while performing research for my thesis.

The scholarship support I received enabled me to take the time to truly understand and translate the needs of rural Cambodian people, and has assisted me in finding employ-ment after receiving my degrees in public health and anthropology from USF. By receiv-ing private support, I was able to concentrate on changing lives rather than focusing on how to meet my own financial obligations.

Please join me in leading the charge and consider making a gift to the Annual Fund for the College of Public Health today. Help open doors of opportunity and discovery for USF stu-dents. My hope is that they, too, may share in the successes I have been so graciously given.

Bif Churchill, ’09 USF College of Public Health Community and Family Health

the gift of education is truly invaluableMy experiences both in the classroom and abroad have helped to enrich my life, including those I am fortunate enough to touch through my research in public health. The financial support I received from Dr. and Mrs. Glenn Rechtine allowed me to actively pursue my dreams. Like them, I have dedicated my life to helping others. The gift of education is truly invaluable!

Daragh A. Gibson, Student USF College of Public Health Community and Family Health

student scholarships at the college of public health making a difference one student at a time!

a desire to help others

Daragh A. Gibson, Student

For more information on student scholarships and making a difference at the USF College of Public Health, please contact Ryan Kipp at 813-396-9485, [email protected].

alumni profile: kansas sparks

international malaria research in thailand

Bif Churchill, ’09, traveled to Cam-

bodia to work with a NGO in a rural

village as a health advisor while fin-ishing her degree

from the College of Public Health


Fasten your seatbelt. Get that flu shot. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Turn off the light when you’re not in the room. Save money for your retirement.

There is no limit to the behaviors and at-titudes that social marketing can seek to in-fluence. When public health, marketing and environmental science professionals from across the world gathered for the 20th An-niversary Social Marketing in Public Health Conference, Milestones in Social Marketing: Past, Present & Future, they discussed how the field is changing and expanding its reach to promote large-scale social change. The integration of digital technology and social media into social marketing was also a part of the discussion.

Sponsored by the University of South Florida and USF Health in collaboration with the Academy for Educational Develop-ment, the conference was held June 11 and 12, 2010, at the Sheraton Sand Key Hotel in Clearwater Beach, FL.

“Our conference is the longest-running social marketing event in the world,” said James Lindenberger, director of the Center for Social Marketing at the USF College of Public Health. “Over the last 20 years USF and its public health practitioners have built strong relationships with thousands of con-ference participants who continue to share what they’ve learned and to advance social marketing in areas like chronic disease, obe-sity prevention, smoking cessation, sexual health and global health.”

The conference kicked off with a presenta-tion by three early pioneers of social market-ing – Philip Kotler, PhD; Alan Andreasen, PhD; and Bill Novelli. Collectively known as the “founding fathers of social market-ing,” they gave their perspectives on how the field has evolved internationally and in the United States.

USF 20th anniversary social marketing conference

social marketing continued on p10…

Over the last 20 years USF and its public health practitioners have built strong relationships with thousands of conference participants who continue to share what they’ve learned and to advance social marketing in areas like chronic disease, obesity prevention, smoking cessation, sexual health and global health.

Co-directors of the 20th anniversary conference Carol Bryant (left) and Kelli McCormack Brown flank the three “Founding Fathers” of social marketing, l to r, Bill Novelli, Philip Kotler and Alan Andreasen.

More than 300 people from 36 U.S. states and nine countries attended the conference.

winter 2011 7

If you would like to make a gift in recognition of Beverly’s 20 years of service to the College of Public Health, you may do so by using the attached envelope to designate your gift amount to the Rita G. Bruce Memorial Scholarship. Beverly has selected this scholarship fund because of her many years of service in the College of Public Health Academic and Student Affairs office and because of her continued support of Dr. Bruce’s mission of passion and care for her students.

Thank you Beverly for your many years of faithful service to the College of Public Health! You will be missed!

beverly’s poemBeverly is retiring. What will we do? How will we ever cope?We must face the SOPHAS applications without despair, but with hope.

For many years, months, weeks and days, she has given her very best,But now we must pick-up her work and try to accomplish the rest.

Although she will be missed in Academic and Student Affairs,Everyone is helping Todd learn the complex job for which he cares.

With a daily smile and a cheerful attitude, she never let us down,Faculty, students or staff rarely left her office with a sad face or frown.

With piles of green and gold folders on her desk, but never on the floor,She was always ready to solve the current problem knocking on her door.

She knew every guideline, policy, procedure, rule, regulation and more,But most importantly, Beverly could locate any of the forms galore.

Using Banner, she scheduled our courses, rooms and every time slot,With never an error, she crossed every “t” and every ”i” had a dot.

She arrived early to get the best parking, but also she stayed late,Beverly remains the outstanding COPH employee to date.

With many exciting future adventures to plan, she is ready to retire,But we know that she will never stop learning or get stuck in a mire.

With their favorite babysitter available now, her children are thrilled,But wait, with other amusements, her calendar is already nearly filled.

A little advice: Stay healthy, enjoy an occasional walk and exercise a bit,For if this wisdom is not followed, your clothes will not fit.

When soon every day becomes Saturday and you are able to sleep late,Please remember your COPH friends and call for a lunch date.

In closing, happiness and longevity in retirement are worthy and due.Beverly, for your friendship and dedication, we all say thanks to you.

~By Dr. Kay Perrin

farewell to beverly sanchez!

Michele Sebti bids farewell to her supervisor, Beverly Sanchez

Beverly pictured with her colleagues in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.


Two COPH faculty members were recog-nized along with eight other USF faculty from the Colleges of Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and Community and Behavioral Sciences.

The Outstanding Research Achievement Award rewards faculty who have received truly exceptional recognition of their research with preeminent awards, grants or publications in top journals during the 2009 calendar year. The awards were presented on Monday Oct. 11, during the Research Exhibition & Faculty Awards Reception in the Interdisciplinary Research Building (IDRB) Galleria.

These two outstanding COPH faculty who received awards are:

two COPH faculty receive outstanding research achievement awards

Thomas R. Unnash, professor and State of Florida World Class Scholar, Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, College of Public Health, for continued extraordinary contributions in global infec-tious disease research, winning two Ameri-can Recovery and Investments Act Awards, and continued uninterrupted funding from the NIH.

Amina Alio, assistant professor of com-munity and family health, College of Public Health, whose outstanding publications include a seminal paper published in the Lancet, on the impact of intimate partner violence.

The USF Office of Research & Innovation recognized two USF College of Public Health faculty members during ResearchOne 2010 for excellence in research and innovation with Outstanding Research Achievement Awards.

Above: Dr. Thomas R. Unnash.

Left: Dr. Amina Allo

winter 2011 9

n Jennifer Highland,’95, is the Executive Director of the Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota County in Sarasota, FL.

n Chelsea Watson, ’00, is the Deputy Director of the Grant and Par Diem Program for the US Department of Veterans Affairs in Tampa, FL.

n Richard Hartman, ’02, is the Co-Founder and COO of OhMyGov, Inc. in Washington, DC. He hosts a public blog online (www.ohmygov.com) that provides communications analysis, training, support, and technology to help government offices, elected officials and political campaigns better understand and navigate the world of 24-hour news cycles and social media.

n Mollie Hayes, ’03, is the EHS Section Manager for Bausch and Lomb in Tampa, FL.

n Nicole Kleiman, ’04, is the Allocation Analyst for the United Network for Organ Sharing in Richmond, VA.

n Rachel Nuzum (Smoker), ’04, is Assistant Vice President for Federal Health Policy at The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation devoted to improving the health care delivery system, and works closely with the Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System. She resides in Washington, DC.

n Margaret Wan, ’06, is a consultant and trainer for EOH Consulting in St. Petersburg, FL.

n Candace Webb, ’06, is a research associate at USUHS, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Department of Preventative Medicine, Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences in Washington, DC.

class notes

n Max Jacobo Moreno Madriñán, ’08, is a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellow at the Global Hydrology and Climate Center NSSTC/MSFC/NASA in Huntsville, AL.

n LaShanta Rice, ’08, recently joined the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She will be a Project Coordinator for the Institute for Families in Society. Ms. Rice was also accepted into a PhD program in Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior at the University of South Carolina.

n Shahnjayla K. Connors, ’10, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Health Outcomes & Behavior at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa,FL. Her research focuses on prostate cancer clinical trials and interventions for cancer disparities in minority populations.

n Keri-Rose Harkins, ’10, is the Senior Child Advocate at the Mobile Medical Clinic and Watch Me Grow Program at St. Joseph’s Child Advocacy Center in Tampa, FL.

n Olabode Oyekoya, ’10, is a disease intervention specialist for DACCO (Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordianting Office) Inc. in Tampa, FL.

n Caitlin Stowe, ’10, is an infection control professional at Lakeland Regional Center in Lakeland, FL.

For more class notes, visit http://publichealth.usfhealthalumni.net

The USF Graduate School honored Dr. Rony Francois, ’09, on October 29, 2010 as a Celebratory Alumni Award Recipient. The Award, established as part of the Graduate School’s 30th Anniversary Celebration honors graduate student alumni for outstanding professional accomplishments and service as a role model for present and future graduate students and scholars.

M. Rony François, M.D., MA, M.S.P.H., Ph.D., has worked in pre-ventive medicine and public health for 14 years. Dr. Francois is a native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As former Director of the Division of Public Health, Dr. François has overseen programs responsible for disease control and prevention and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Dr. François also served as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Public Health Practice Program at the College of Public Health, and worked as the Site Medical Director for Corporate Health Dimensions at Citigroup in Tampa for over seven years. With an extensive academic background including a Doctor of Medicine degree, a Master of Science in Public Health, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Toxicology/Public Health degree all from the University of South Florida, Dr. François is passionate about the public’s health and is a strong advocate for providing quality health services for all.

Dr. Rony Francois, ’03

Have you or another USF COPH alum recently achieved a major career milestone? Gotten married? Had a child? Enjoyed an impromptu reunion with fellow USF COPH alumni?

Turn yourself or a friend in for the next issue of The Bulletin!

Please e-mail Leanna Baylis at [email protected] to submit your class notes and/or photos!


Kotler, the S.C. Johnson & Son Distin-guished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg Graduate School of Manage-ment, Northwestern University, is consid-ered one of the most influential marketing scholars in the last 30 years. Andreasen, professor and executive director of the Social Marketing Institute at Georgetown University, is a consumer behavior expert and a world leader in applying marketing to nonprofit organizations. Novelli, founder of the worldwide public relations agency Porter Novelli, was former chief executive officer of AARP and former president of the Tobacco-Free Kids Campaign.

Social marketing applies the principles and techniques of commercial marketing in an attempt to persuade a target audience to voluntarily accept, reject, change or abandon a behavior to benefit themselves and society in general. Consumer-focused research and evaluation are an integral part of the social marketing process.

Carol Bryant, PhD, co-director of the Flor-ida Prevention Research Center at the USF College of Public Health, also spoke at the conference. Her recent work has focused on designing social marketing-based interven-tions that get children to be more physically active and eat better.

In the beginning, Bryant said, interna-tional health agencies used social marketing primarily with a maternal and child health focus — to help reduce infant mortality, promote family planning, and prevent infec-tious or parasitic diseases, for example. As the discipline became more widely practiced in the United States, its strategies were tapped by such diverse fields as environmen-tal health, education, and finance.

“Now, you’re seeing community-based social marketing to get people to recycle, conserve energy, stop feeding the bears – all sorts of environmental protection initiatives,” Bryant said. “It’s even used for financial

planning purposes …to convince people to save money.”

Conventional marketing, which often relies heavily on mass advertising, can be effective at increasing public awareness and under-standing of issues, but its success in altering social behavior is limited.

“We spend a lot of time teaching people what social marketing is not – and it’s not focus groups, advertising and public service announcements,” Bryant said. “It’s far more complicated and powerful than that. It involves in-depth research, integrating that research into program design and sometimes changing public policy and community norms to make it easier for people to adopt the behavior and attitudes you’re promoting.”

social marketing cont. from page 6…

multi-drug resistant malaria and other infectious diseases in the uprooted Burmese population of Tak Province, Thailand.

Due to the burden on the existing health structures in Burma worsened by the quasi absence of health care, patients have been forced to travel long distances to get treat-ment in Thailand. This situation has created ideal conditions for the transmission of infectious diseases such as malaria, tuber-culosis, HIV/AIDS and others, but has also created ideal conditions for students and re-searchers to learn more about public health globally while conducting malaria and other infectious disease research.

Kansas is tremendously thankful for the opportunity she received to travel and gain invaluable international research experi-ence. She was able to conduct research in the labs and observe patients in the clinics. Kansas enjoys research, but she is even more passionate about the end product of that research, helping the individual patient and the population as a whole.

During her most recent stay in Thailand, Kansas began the applica-tion process to medical school. While continuing this application process, Kansas is home at USF continuing her malaria research in the Kyle Lab.

“My graduate degree experience at USF has not only been beyond rewarding,” Kan-sas states. “My experiences in Thailand have taught me that the fundamentals of public health are simple yet the execution can be challenging. I now have a greater apprecia-tion for this and the importance of public health research. The opportunities I have had during my Master’s at USF have only

amplified my desire to continue to practice public health in areas of need no matter where my future career takes me.”

For more information about malaria re-search and SMRU, visit http://www.shoklo-unit.com/.

sparks cont. from page 3…


The Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU) is located in Mae Sot, Thailand.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH ALUMNI NEWS

PRESIDENTUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Judy Genshaft, PhD

DEANUSF COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Donna Petersen, ScD, MHS

PRODUCED BY:USF Health

Development & Alumni RelationsUniversity of South Florida

EDITORS:

Leanna Baylis and Deena Kemp

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The Bulletin - USF COPH Alumni Magazine